Should I spend $500 to get my cat's teeth cleaned?

Have you priced around?

My advice would be to get a second opinion, just in case they are taking advantage of you. if you are one of these people who will do anything for their pet, it would not be too unreasonable to suspect them of trying to milk you of your cash.

This article says average cost is $300. I would check around and make sure the cat even needs its teeth cleaned.

I haven’t priced around yet, and that was our plan to get a second opinion.. I was just wondering if others on this list had had similar experiences.

If it turns out the cat could benefit from a cleaning I think it’s a good investment. Otherwise, the teeth will just get worse and then you will have to pay for extractions, antibiotics and such.

Cats and dogs typically have to be put under a general anesthetic to get their teeth cleaned. It’s kind of a big deal.

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There’s also the option of buying a wellness plan – basically health insurance for your pet – with regular monthly payments that total up to far less than if you were to pay out of pocket.

Banfield offers wellness plans for dogs and cats with different tiers of service/pricing. You have to start at Basic Plus to get the dental cleaning included.

If you have the money.

I’ve been under the impression for years that dry cat food is supposed to help clean their teeth and that you only get problems if you only feed them canned food.

@faye She gets dry food.

sounds high, but if you can afford it, have it done.

Sure, why not.

DEFINITELY shop around. And if it’s still a lot, see if they’ll let you pay it out over a few months.
Pets can be expensive, but you gotta do it!

WHAT $500 to clean a cats teeth?! hahaha wow… we are in a recession…grab a toothbrush and clean them yourself!

Dental cleanings can be very important to a pet’s health. (Consider what your own mouth would be like if you never brushed or received dental care.) In addition to the problems that can occur in association with the teeth themselves, heavy tartar and gingivitis can seed the bloodstream with bacteria, which often lodge in the heart or kidneys, causing major organ failure. It certainly doesn’t sound as if your cat has reached that stage, but you should consider prophylactic cleaning as a tool to prevent future, more expensive problems.

Find out from your vet exactly what is included in the price quoted. Remember, this is a significant event. Many vets will perform some basic blood work to make sure that the pet is healthy enough to survive anesthesia. Any clinic who knows what they are doing will place an IV catheter for venous access to induce anesthesia and to have venous access in case of medical emergency. Pets must be sedated, intubated, and then maintained on anesthetic gas during the procedure. In addition to the nurse or doctor that performs the scaling and polishing, another nurse or doctor must be present to monitor the anesthesia. When the procedure has been completed, a nurse will monitor your pet during the recovery period.

For pets with advanced dental disease, the cost will increase because of the dental radiographs, additional time required to remove teeth, and antibiotics and pain medications dispensed.

Ask your vet if he/she thinks that the dental disease is mild enough that you can have her/him monitor the progression over the next 6 months to a year. You may be able to put off the cleaning for a while without significant risk or damage.

As in everything in life, you get what you pay for. If you shop around for the lowest bidder in medicine, you’re going to chose someone who cuts corners: your pet may do fine, but taking the precautions that a more qualified clinic uses will help reduce the chances of having a negative outcome.

highway robbery, although I.ve heard of $900. They charged us $75 but she was already asleep. It would take them no more than half an hour for the cleaning alone. Do the math then become a vet .
It would be worth the trip to arkansas for the savings.

@Aster How is it highway robbery? A veterinarian has had as many years of schooling as an MD, and typically has just as much college debt. They must purchase exactly the same anesthesia machine, surgical monitor, x-ray machines, and dental prophy equipment as a human hospital. They must hire highly trained support staff. But do you think that you could go into a clinic and have a procedure performed under general anesthesia for less money? Why do people think they should get quality medical care for cheap?

You got more money than you do sense if you pay $500 for a cat’s teeth. Have you looked into the price of kitty dentures?

I guess I base my remarks on what I pay for a cleaning and theres a huge price differential. Of course, syz, I was waiting for a response exactly like yours. (-:

I literally just went to the vet to get both my cats check ups they are 12 now, and in excellent condition, but they had some tarter build up on their teeth too. First of all it happens, they are animals and the don’t have dentist to give them free toothbrushes and yell at them for not flossing. I’ve had now 6 cats, and 1 dog, all of them eventually developed mild tartar build up, but it was no big deal, they didn’t seem uncomfortable. The vet suggested a special diet cat food that is called “Feline T/D.” it’s a big kibble but they can chew it and that’s really all the pet needs to clean its teeth. I can’t put my cats on it though since they are already on a special digestive system cat food, but i give them a few kibbles as treats, they like it and it seems to help their teeth a little bit. the bag probbly costs about $30 probably and would definitely be worth a try before you go for the full $300 procedure. My vet said that some owners just simple put a few of them in their cats food bowl on top of their regular food.

Dental cleanings are costly but necessary… I have two 11 year old cats who have, collectively, had 10 teeth pulled in the past 1 or so… let me tell you, it cost a hell of a lot more than $500. Price around, do the cleanings and MAINTAIN your cat’s teeth on your own; you can buy a toothbrush and toothpaste and brush them yourself regularly… it’s not so bad!

It depends on whether you can afford the preventive care, or, take your chances and wait and see what happens. As always, the double edged sword.

Whether it is a cleaning or extractions the anesthesia bill will be the same.

My cat needs to be put under for his yearly shave job. The grooming costs $50, the sedation $75. :-/

Soooo, if she is not having huge issues now, no infections, abcesses, you could just wait til she shows symptoms of an issue and have the teeth in question pulled.

Or, you can clean them and most likely STILL end up needing extractions at some point. lol

You will know if she is having trouble, loss of appetite, etc.

I’m a middle pather and I do not brush my cats teeth, sorry, I think it’s rediculous.

Animals are just like humans, some have certain issues, others don’t.

My animals are vaccinated, neutered, on flea and tick preventives but, short of an emergency I do not do everything that’s ‘recommended.’

I say wait awhile and see what happens.

My own dentist is wanting to crown a tooth that gives me no problems, other than the filling is old. Uh uh..I have nice teeth but I am not fixing that tooth until it breaks or the filling cracks.

You must be a consumer and if a lot of vets had their way you’d be spending $100’s a month to keep up with their ideals in the industry.

My vet charged $125 to sedate one of our cats and clean her teeth, and do 2 extractions (poor kitty!). He’s a good vet. I guess it’s just what the going rate in your area is.

I have heard that dry kibble actually doesn’t keep pets’ teeth clean, any more than crunchy food keeps our teeth clean. Cats, especially, probably shouldn’t have dry food at all, because it’s not their natural diet (dried grains vs meat and “dinner-innards”). There are some who say dry foods are possibly why feline diabetes is way up. Others who say its just up because it is getting diagnosed now and wasn’t before. We should brush their teeth. I value my fingers, however, and so I haven’t tried it myself.

@llewis

There are also theories about over vaccinating and elements in the pop top lids of canned cat food that some say increases the risk of thyroid conditions which have also risen markedly in the last 30 years or so. I think we do our best for ourselves and our pets circumstances permitting.
I have had 7 cats over the last 30 years and every one of them made it ripe old ages with just the basics of good care.

Giving an animal a good and loving home and the basics is perfectly good enough IMO.

5 of my cats died from old age and kidney failure, one with diabetes also & 2 from old age and thyroid conditions.

They all ranged between 15–17 when they died.

Good, long, happy lives.

@Coloma :-) Sounds like you have a good cat-home!

I had heard about the over-vaccinating thing from a previous vet, so we are judicious about that. Hadn’t heard about pop top lids.

The one kitty is the only one who actually got her teeth cleaned. She is one who must be sedated for just about anything (“devil kitty” comes to mind), and had been looking like it hurt her to eat, so since we were doing some other stuff we did the dental work, too. I feel like we should do the others, as well, but they don’t look like they are having problems, so…

@llewis

‘Devil kitty’...lol

Oh, don’t get me wrong, I have spent $1000’s on my herd of critters. My little girl goose ‘Sonora’ just came off anti-inflametories for a sprained hock.
She is also supplemented with Omega fatty acids and Glucosimine. You have never lived until you have put pills down a gooses throat. haha

But the payoff is huge, after 3 months she can now run and flap with her gander up to the grassy hill in my yard again.

We do what we can, as we can. I don’t believe though, in anyone laying a guilt trip on someone for not doing a particular thing.

Life happens, things change, just like having children, most of us wouldn’t be here if our parents could have afforded us. lol

We live life, get pets, do our best and if hardship arises you deal with that in the moment.

I’d certainly do dental work if the need arose and I could afford it in the moment. :-)

Oh my god!!! that’s way more than a cleaning on a human including the nitrous! of course I understand that animals need general anesthetic for this- wow I would throw up if I got hit with something like that right now 0-o